Pencils and Posterity

Dear Sweet Void---

I used to be a stickler about writing with pens.  I would only use black pens for writing.  In school, my homework was done in black ink---no exceptions.  Somehow this made me feel more official.  Black ink was stark, dark and permanent.  Perhaps this is part of the reason I disliked hated math with a passion.  Who decided it HAD to be done in pencil?  Anyway---for the longest time I refused to use pencils.  (For those of you paying attention, yes this means I did not do my math homework...) 

Now that I am older, but not necessarily wiser, I have come to appreciate the leniancy that pencils can afford.  I am a perfectionist and my use of pens did nothing to help me avoid countless re-writes.  I love crisp, clean, revision-free documents.  I hate smudges and cross-outs and starting over.  Pens write smoothly and require no sharpening or replacement of lead.  Also, when you use a pencil you eventually wear one side down and then have to arrange the orientation to write on the good, un-dull side and your writing looks different.  (Am I crazy---can anyone else relate??)  I'm not sure what my logic was for only using pens way back then, but I see now that pencils are much more forgiving!

I am happy to say my preference for certain writing utensils has faded--and I no longer forbid the purchase of pencils.  I do still like writing with pens, but I no longer shun the pencil.

I realize this is a slightly odd topic for a blog...considering that pens and pencils are irrelevant here.  I need neither to write with and blogs allow for corrections at any time.  Not to mention the fact that I can choose many fonts and colors to "express myself " with.  Which begs the question--- Will the children of the future even learn to hand write?  Or will we be advanced to the point that hand writing things is archaic?  Will my children learn to type rather than print and think that mechanical pencils are old and outdated?  I remember when mechanical pencils were all the rage and a highly coveted affair in school.  Will they become antiques?  I also remember learning cursive and hating it.  Will they learn to use cursive/print, or simply learn which fonts are appropriate?  Will my pens and pencils be the new feather pen/ink caligraphy sets---novelties to collect?  Will they even know what a Number 2 pencil is?

I can assure you my children will know.  But will theirs?   It's funny where a simple pen/pencil blog can lead you!  Sometimes it is fun to let your thoughts run wild for a while.  I had better reel them in.  For now---Bergen Says:  Here's me signing out with my shiny blue Bic # 2

P.S. Yes, I did hand draft this on real paper with the afore mentioned pencil before posting!